Customer Reviews

Sicko [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latin America]

5 star:		(331)
4 star:		(68)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

No matter what people may think of Michael Moore, they will be hard-pressed to counter his film "Sicko" with one of a contrarian view. I suppose "Sickohype" or Sickohypo" or "Let'em all Die" just doesn't have the same resonance as "Fahrenhype" did to challenge his previous film.

Perhaps as landmark as Jacob Riis's "How the Other Half Lives," "Sicko" brings the devastating cost and state of health care in this country to light beginning with people who have lived the American dream and expected to live their retirement independently and in comfort. Early on, Moore shows a working couple forced to sell their home to meet medical obligations not covered, and now depend on the charity of their children. Moore carefully singles out several cases of the twenty-five thousand emails he received that reveal the appalling state of health care in a country that nurtures that dream. (None of the stories or emails are about couples in separate bathtubs looking out over a vineyard).

First are the insurance companies that are out to make a profit. (Nothing's wrong with that). However, the profit is at the expense of the medical coverage and preventative care they can deny. If they cannot deny it outright or claim such care is experimental, they will pour through a patient's medical history to see if any condition occurred that was not mentioned or remembered in the application process. This will give the company the means to deny all claims retroactively. Incidentally, doctors receive bonuses for the most claims they can deny!

The next spotlight is on the pharmaceutical companies which are so expensive that many people must continue working well beyond their retirement years, years they should be enjoying, years when there is the greatest need for medication. In particular, Moore singles out the very new and complicated prescription plan, which is more expensive for seniors than ever before, but benefits the pharmaceuticals. (Thank you, Mr. Bush).

Besides our illustrious president benefitting from the contributions of pharmaceuticals, Moore identifies a host of other republicans who have had their hands in drug company pockets--including the lady who was going to provide universal health care in the first place--Hillary Clinton whose plan the drug companies spent $100,000,000 to defeat. Fourteen staffers who worked on the Seniors' Prescription bill, moved on to lucrative lobby positions with the same companies, and Billy Tauzin was hired as CEO for Pharma at $2,000,000 a year. In any other milieu, that is called bribery, corruption, and conflict of interest. In Congress, it's called the cost of doing business.

But what gives Americans a strong sense of pride is our belief that our medical system and healthcare, while flawed, is the finest in the world. Moore is quick to write "denied" all over that fantasy. We see in Canada, Great Britain, and France, how people receive first rate health care, from first rate physicians without having to sell their homes, decide which finger they can afford to save, and have a higher life expectancy than Americans. (Doctors in Britain are actually paid more for getting people into better health habits and regimens).

Misnamed socialized medicine by its detractors, socialized insurance works in these countries efficiently without people crowding in waiting rooms, being taxed to death (as the health companies would have us believe), or dying because they cannot afford the medication, or because the insurance company denied their claim. Moore implies that paying higher taxes makes more sense than losing your homes or retirement to catastrophic illness in what is now the leading cause of bankruptcy in the country.

Moore's direction is flawless. His graphics and humor are engaging; dry and deprecating. This is a film that may make you well-up with tears that a society could take such good care of its companies and business, and dump its destitute on the street. Moore succeeds in making you feel empathy for those who are poorly treated or not at all. He is able to make you think: "Can that happen to me?" or "If it can work there, why can't it work here?"

The special edition also offers more in-depth discussion of health care that could not be put in the original film. This includes conversations with people on the street, HR 636 brought before the house, Norway which has the highest standard of health care in the world. (Yes, it is free). Sadly it also shows some of the people from the film whose family members died for lack of treatment, or because they were turned away.

The final irony of the film is one of the more poignant. The man who runs the most virulent anti-Michael Moore website announced that he would have to shut down because he couldn't afford the hospital care his wife so desperately needed.

Guess what Moore did.

God bless us everyone.

So, first and foremost, I watched this movie with an odd mixture of apprehension and amusement. Apprehension because the country I now live in, the Netherlands, has been embarking on an unexpected, experimental privatization of the national health care system under management by a cadre of big insurance companies, just as the US. A social enterprise I sincerily despise.. The amusement, on the other hand, comes from noticing how poor the standards of life and the expectations of basic social secutiry are in the United States, compared to what we enjoy in Europe, as well as Canada. You can hardly believe such a powerful and rich nation to be unable to organize basic security and assistance for its citizens without going through the accountancy departments! As if all in life were to be attached a monetary value: health, the feeling of belonging and contributing to a community that can support you if need be... The dignity of being a person no matter what your financial status and credit are. I guess these are the sick spots of American society, every way you wanna turn it... But I digress already! (I'll digress much more later!)

Undoubtedly, you can judge this to be an interesting and catching movie only if one is interested in the social issues that it exposes. Because otherwise rest assured it can provide you with a pretty grim couple of hours... In spite of the odd quips or humorous sections here and there. It's a typical Michael Moore documentary: no clean footage, low-budget set-up and very slowly coming to the main point. If you have a short attention span or prefer the glitter of National Geographic-like kind of info, be prepared for something less entertaining... On the other hand, entertainment was not the point here! The ideas and contents are fundamental to reflect on what western societies are heading for in terms of life-quality and people's mentality. The example of the American economic behemoth that can't take care of (or rather, doesn't give a damn about) its lower-classes or merely unlucky citizens, is probably the most negative you can rely on, but at least it's telling! That's why the five stars, and I'd give six if I could have six...

A warning: I do not believe Michael Moore is totally objective in his representation of facts and choice of examples, because it's well known that he has a hugely overflowing political agenda! I wish this movie were accompanied by another one, in which some raw statistics could reveal how Americans rate their health care, and how many times bad things happen in the name of the money-first ideology.
On the other hand, Moore's agenda sure is a whole lot better than the one of the Republicans and their associated economic lobbies and consortia (not to mention the blind-minded religious conservatives that merrily trail along!). Given a choice between what possible bias I have to pick, I dive head-down for Moore...
The somewhat unsettling side of this documentary is that for all the effort in rigging up a tirade against the health management in the States, not a iota of possible alternatives and suggestions is presented! Unless you seriously want to consider fake marriage with Canadians or mass emigration to France or England? There's a lack of constructive appeal to this, say.. But then it's also fair to note that on Michael Moore's website there is actually a section with a drafted proposal on how to reorganize medical life of America. Whether it's good or not, that's open for debate... (We won't believe Moore is can perform miracles, but at least there's an attempt at suggesting some new course, which was missing in the movie!)

On a personal note, the thumbs up for Moore is followed by a definite thumbs down for the Dutch government, who chose to go for private-insurance funding of health care. Although the spirit and laws holding Dutch society together are a far cry from the callousness of the American world, and I don't think anyone will ever get kicked out of hospitals here... Yet, simple truth is, the insurers are not going to be there for your health, but for your money! They rake in as much as possible, fork out as least as possible: it's their job! A few cases of people I know here already show how much they try to dodge assistance for you as soon as they legally can..

Two reasons why insurance-policy for personal health care is flawed:
1) The money you pay for your policy on a yearly basis doesn't even come close to cover the real expenditures of the medical establishment on a national scale even in such a small country. Not even close.. So it's actually still the government that finances the overwhelming most of technical bills and professionals' salaries there! Which it already did before... So what's new for the taxpayers? Just an added tax which goes to feed the wallets of powerful insurance companies, certainly not to fund emergency care departments or operating rooms. And this is a fact! (As well as an interesting political slip that should be worth some investigation a la Moore on this side of the big pond...)
2) Health care is a basic part of any system of social welfare associated with a logistically functioning and morally balanced society, if we look at the western democratic model. It's not something you can evaluate looking at the expenses, not in our wealthy countries. If even Cuba (as in Moore's example) is able to provide free medical assistance to its citizens, it should certainly be within the boundaries of European economies too! The biggest cost of privatized health care is not that monthly bill deducted from your salary, it's the moral and psychological burden one feels for it... You suddenly find your worth as a person accounted for by your monetary solvency, and not by simply being a member of a community. And this is a high price to pay for the single citizen as well as for society as a whole: it's one more significant step towards that dire feeling of being out there on your own bum, instead of being a member of a reliable group to which you contribute, and that, in case, will watch out on that bum of yours in return...
Big mistake!

The most telling part of this excellent and important documentary, essential viewing in this electoral season (especially where he shows how Hillary got bought off after fighting briefly and with compromises for the universal health care enjoyed by most civilized Western nations, including here France, Norway, Cuba and Canada), arises when we learn how we went from a nation of concerned health care providers addressing the whole person and community to privatized corporations concerned only for the bottom line and thus aggressively denying any care at all in order to earn more profits, placing money before Americans. It once took a whole village to raise a child and heal the sick and to care for our elderly in peace and compassion; now our health management, insurance and pharmaceutical corporations in order to increase their records profits deny health care to anyone who is ill. The most telling and undeniable part of this important and pro-life documentary lies in the Nixon tapes, in which Erlichman in 1971 sells the concept of privatized health management of Kaiser Permanente to a Nixon growling at any whiff of our government providing health services to all. Erlichman forcefully assures the frowning one that this is strictly for profit, and so Nixon the Usurper, our own Richard the Third, gleefully agrees (wondering where he gets his cut of the pie) and the next night on national television sells this snake oil as good for Americans. Now we have the worst health care system in the once civilized world, which mercilessly denies health care to those who are sick in order to rake in greater profits at the cost of their lives and suffering, ignoring and abusing not only the once honored whole person, but also encouraging and waiting for their death by negligence. Thanks a lot, Dick. And now from Dick into Bush.

One of the major marks of the ministry of Jesus was his healing. We now have a nation which refuses to heal, having the resources to do so. As Michael asks, what have we become? Michael, a Catholic, in this documentary frequently resorts to Catholic clergy and religious for this explicit subtext, including a parish priest in south Texas lamenting the loss of a parishioner to conscientious industry negligence; a beautiful Eucharistic celebration is presented. Michael also interviews a nun in Havana who strongly and consistently assures us who view that there is no religious persecution in Cuba. And one of the extra features, on this disk documenting the US health care industry's exclusive eagerness for profit by denying health care, asks Whom Would Jesus Deny (WWJD)?

Despite the statement by Michael Douglass character Gecko in the epitome of capitalist films Wall Street (20th Anniversary Edition), in this case greed is not good. Greed never is. It does not clarify. It is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. It kills us, and when it does not yet kill us, it brings us the most profound suffering possible, and it does not care. It is greed.

To see children addressing their own parents who have lost everything to health care expenses, despite having insurance, and who must needs sleep in their children's basement, to see those children disrespect their own parents as failures and as burdens, and giving them no more than a corner in the basement computer room (without moving out the computer, which comes first), to see those children demand to know how long this stay is going to last, of their own parents who gave them life and home and education and food and warmth, to see those children so corrupted by the brave new US mentality as to despise their own parents for their infirmity and poverty, to see their own children do not care, do not feel, this is to weep. Then to see that grandmother weeping in Havana because for once her health care and her emotional needs are being addressed, for free, is to weep once more. To see Canadians and British and French laughing as if an embarrassing joke, a concept which makes no sense, at our health care industry's demands and abuses and our government's eager complicity in this avaricious extortion of the American people, is to remember that, yes, we must care for one another, and the only pre-condition for going to the hospital is to be sick, and that the sign of a decent society is one which cares truly and wholly for its infirm, its elderly and its poor. This is a normal society, and we have come so far from it that we can no longer recall normal.

We make war for record profits for the war industry, including Blackwater and Halliburton. We deny health care for record profits for the illness industry. We see a 9/11 rescue worker weeping to discover in Cuba that the same inhaler she buys in America for $120 costs in Cuba $5, as she weeps to be heard for the first time and releases all of her pent up emotion not only from her rescue experiences at ground zero, but at the persistent denial of care needed because of the effects of the selfless rescue, because of losing her home and everything and moving her children into hopeless situations because of the high health costs above and beyond insurance.

Cuba sent medical teams to New Orleans to save lives before the brutal Bush military regime even woke up, as our poor and elderly and infirm drowned and died.

The Bush military regime turned the life-bringing medical teams away at the point of heavy artillery. Watch Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke - A Requiem In Four Acts (Documentary).

What's wrong with this picture? Just ask Michael.

Cuba exports doctors while we export war and deny health care to our own people. What is wrong with this picture? Go ask Michael. Ask your Congressional representative. What health care have we brought to Iraq?

We wish to laugh with the woman whose ambulance fee was denied because it was not pre-approved, as she asks how she could ask for approval while unconscious, but we realize this is too true and too common. It is very common. We weep with the mother whose baby daughter was let die of a fever because she was not in a hospital owned by Kaiser Permanente but a competitor, the closest one to the mother's home. The illness industry's only response was to throw that agonized mother out of their hospital for disturbing the peace. I guess that I would, too, as my baby daughter dies, denied care. We see injured and lost people dumped on skid row because their insurance money has run out, while still in pain and suffering, with IV's still attached.

Nixon. In the pursuit of impure profit turned our once great and committed health care industry into a bloody avaricious carnivorous monster as brutal as any prison doctor in an old chain gang movie demanding cash for relief from pain and suffering and lethal illnesses easily cured. Bobby would never have permitted this, and this is why they killed him now forty years ago. Bobby would have made America, not Cuba, the greatest exporter of doctors to the Third World. Bobby would have cared for all Americans, and eased all suffering without thought of cost, as do the civilized nations of the Western world. But, then, Bobby was a Catholic too, and heard the command of Jesus to heal the sick and to do unto others what we want them to do for ourselves, to love our neighbor as ourselves, to love our enemy.

See this movie again today. See this movie before you vote. See this movie and all of the excellent extras attached on this Special Edition disk.

Corporate capitalist illogic, recently condemned again by the good Pope Benedict, echoing the words of his predecessors, laughed at in disbelief by the citizens of our civilized Western nations, as applied to human rights and needs: limit supply to increase costs; deny care to cut costs and increase profits. Only in America.

47 million people are without health insurance. The United States is ranked just above many third world nations in terms of its overall health care. The average life expectancy in the U.S. is three years less than in Canada. Moore rattles off some interesting statistics about the business of health care. He focuses, however, on individuals who have health care with conditions that are denied routine treatment because they suddenly become "experimental" or retroactively deny benefits that have been approved because a health insurnace company has found a loop hole. Moore's film has its own editorial point of view or slant (how could it not?) whether or not you agree with him will largely depend upon your experience with health care in this country and the impact the film makes on you.

I particularly found touching the vingette on the woman who's husband was denied a bone marrow transplant because it was "experimental". The man's brother was a match and it looked good that he would have a chance. He died after his last chance at treatment was denied.

There is also a story about a woman who had a daughter denied treatment because she was taken to an ER that didn't take their health insurance. While that is unusual, it documents the corporate issues that can contribute to the death of a child.

While socialized medicine may not be the key here (there are plenty of complaints about waiting lists for treatment, limits on doctors, etc.), we need to have a way to untie coverage from employment and allow patients to receive reliable, good coverage from haalth insurance companies. More importantly, though, we need to have ethical reviews of practices to may sure this fiasco doesn't occur again for patients presented in the film.

More of an editorial than a documentary, Michael Moore's "Sicko" although far from perfect, provides an education on the problems within the health care system in the United States. Politics always play a part in any discussion of health care and this one is no different. There are those who disagree with Moore that our health care system is broken and just as many that suggest we could take a lesson from other nations about how the to effectively treat others with universal health care.


The film comes with a number of special features including "Sicko Goes to Washington" where Moore went to nation's capitol to see if the Rep. John Conyers sponsored bill HR 676 to reform the health care system could be passed. We hear some horrible stories and see some of the actions that CNA (California Nurse's Association) and others are taking to try and change things.

"This Country Beats France" focuses on Norway where health care is the #1 country for literacy, education and healthcare as well as per capita income. We rank #66.

"Uniquely American" focuses on the community fundraiser to help the sick.

"What If You Worked for GE in France?" looks at benefits working for an American company where employees get five weeks paid vacation, RTT days in France, works 35 hours a week and gets other benefits WE as Americans don't enjoy. Clearly I need to move to France.

We also get the Hollywood premiere of the movie and a music video. Moore also had a premiere in Skid Row in L.A. at the same time as the Hollywood premiere with all the celebrities.

"Sister Mary Fidel" and "Who Would Jesus Deny?", "More with Mike & Tony Benn" and an interview gallery round out the special features for this set.

Every documentary has its point-of-view and editorial slant. Michael Moore's film "Sicko" is no different in that regard. However, Moore's take on health care in the United States is on target more often than not and the inaccuracies are pretty minor overall. Sure, there is no idealized perfect health care system. There are better ones than we currently have in the United States.

One may like or dislike Michael Moore, but the message of this film is as undeniable as the multiplication table. I am now 76 years old and lived the first half of my life in the U.S., the second half in England. I am very lucky in that, now that I need regular medical attention, I am here rather than there. At my age it's 100 percent free, including all medication--and it's very good indeed. I'm on a small pension, but I would not accept a fortune to return to my native country; if I did, it would soon be in the hands of the medical profession and I would not even be able to afford to return to where I would be cared for again. If this is "communism", I'll sing the Internationale.

*
Michael Moore sucks. And "Sicko", his latest liberal attack on the government is more of the same. Don't waste your money.

Hmmm. Hum. Hmmm. Hmmmm

Okay, are all of the Michael Moore bashers out of the room? Good. Now we can actually discuss the film "Sicko".

****

If you have seen any of Moore's previous films, "Sicko" will look familiar. Moore combines a number of moving stories of real people with a number of segments where he serves as a `roving reporter' and tries to get to the bottom of certain issues. Expectations for this new film are high, based on the enormous success of his last film "Fahrenheit 9/11". Because of the subject matter, and the enormous amount of press, both good and bad, "9/11" became the most successful documentary ever. When I went to see the film, I bought my tickets in advance and still had to wait in line due to the sheer volume of people trying to get in to see the film. "Sicko" is similar in tone and feel to his previous film, but it isn't quite the same hot button issue and will not receive the same amount of press, publicity, or dollars.

Many people attack Michael Moore's films because they are "documentaries". "Well, they don't tell the truth". "He's a liar". A documentary, any documentary, has to have a point of view. We have to know why the filmmaker is telling their story. Why is this idea important to them? If they don't have or exhibit a point of view, the film would be a pointless waste of your time and money. It wouldn't be compelling. You may disagree with some or all of the filmmaker's point of view, but at least they have one.

Moore has taken on some hot-button topics in his films. I think he does this for two reasons; because he wants to help make people aware of these problems and encourage them to act and also because he knows he will create more publicity by attacking them. As the old saying goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity. So, Moore has taken on gun control, big corporations and the George W. Bush presidency, all in an attempt to give us more information and to try to prompt us to take action. Because of his previous films, Moore is not exactly a sight any one running a company wants to see coming at them. In fact, I think I might have an accident if I saw Moore headed towards me holding a microphone. What did I do wrong?

In "Sicko", Moore turns his camera on the health care industry. Or, as he has said in a number of interviews, the lack of such. He talks to a number of people about their problems. One woman shows pictures of her car after an accident. Then, we see the bill and learn the insurance company denied her claim for an ambulance because it wasn't pre-approved. As she comments "When was I supposed to have it pre-approved? After I regained consciousness but before they put me on the ambulance." There are a number of stories like this and they are heartbreaking.

Why are these stories so heartbreaking? Because each of these people did what they were supposed to do. They did what we have done. They got insurance. And we could just as easily be in their shoes.

As Moore delves deeper into the problem, he notes that insurance companies don't make money if they pay claims, so they hire people, doctors, and medical professionals, to deny whatever claims they can and to figure out new ways to deny other claims.

Moore spends some time discussing what a `pre-existing health condition' means to these companies. After he sets this up, he shows a list of all of the pre-existing conditions, which could get your coverage denied. Worse, because some of these conditions are relatively banal, if they find out later that you have one of them, after paying out a claim, they may deny the claim and sue you to get the money back. The list of `pre-existing' conditions is extensive and runs a long time, even at the accelerated speed we see in the film.

There is also a segment dealing with Hilary Clinton's stewardship of the Universal Health Care initiative she tried to get off the ground when her husband was President. Not surprisingly, the plan never materialized. Now, with Hilary the Democratic front-runner, and using this as a campaign talking point again, it might come as a surprise what Moore reveals in "Sicko". But then again, it probably shouldn't surprise you that much.

And Moore visits other Western countries already employing the concept of Universal Healthcare. In visits to Great Britain and France, he finds that people receive the health care they need but more importantly, they receive the preventative care they need. As he talks to people in these countries and they reveal the extent of this coverage and what it means to them, I defy you to not allow your mouth to drop open. As he talked to more and more people in Paris, both French citizens and American ex-patriots living there, and they revealed more and more of the benefits they currently receive, I was ready to pack my bags.

As Moore tells us one story after another of normal, ordinary, everyday people and their problems with the healthcare industry, he really tugs at the heartstrings. These are people just like you and me. Their problems could happen to any one of us as well.

Then, Moore turns his attention to a sampling of 9/11 Rescue Workers. The NYC Firemen and Policemen who rushed to the scene are presumably covered by their respective health care plans. But what about all of the other people who rushed down there to lend a hand? All of the people in the Armed Forces? The good Samaritans? All of the people who volunteered their efforts to help save people? These people didn't hesitate to help out. In the process, they also breathed the toxic fumes and are now experiencing many of the same ailments many of New York's finest are living with. But are they getting any medical help? As Moore illustrates with a sound bite from Governor Pataki, they will be covered provided they can prove they were there, they spent a certain amount of time there, they helped out with the rescue effort, they sign an affidavit, etc. How many volunteers who were involved with such a chaotic event can provide proof of their participation?

Moore also learns the detainees at Guantanamo Bay receive full health care, including preventative medicine and this doesn't add up for the filmmaker. The people who helped out during the rescue effort can't get the medical care they need but the people suspected of causing the harm can? Moore grabs his subjects and they travel to Miami. He rents a boat and they make their way to Guantanamo Bay. It is an amusing piece and the story continues from there to show how these same people are treated when they actually arrive in Cuba.

This last bit is also pretty typical Moore, and, I suspect, a point that drives many of his critics crazy. It is a staged bit, much like when he ambushed Charlton Heston for a scene in "Bowling for Columbine", and it is debatable whether it has a place in a documentary. But Moore is trying to make a point and while the set-up may be artificial, the outcome is what he wants to show. And it is an effective argument.

"Sicko" is a very good, funny, emotional look at a corrupt part of our community. It doesn't pack the emotional wallop of "Fahrenheit 9/11" or address as incendiary a hot-button topic, but it is a very good conversation starter nonetheless.

Now, hopefully people will go out and talk and come up with a solution to the problem.

Whether or not you like Michael Moore, this documentary will have you wondering exactly when, as Americans, we lost our humanity. As allegedly the richest country in the world, how is it that so many poorer countries are able to take much better care of their citizens? If you are an illegal immigrant or a visiting tourist, you stand a much better chance of getting health care then if you are a poor working stiff who can't afford it. If you are in jail for committing a crime you will receive health care, right down to an organ transplant if it's deemed necessary. But as an average tax paying citizen, the government turns a blind eye and assumes that employers will take care of your health care which is happening less and less. More and more companies are outsourcing labor and hiring people "part time" to avoid having to give these employees health care benefits. Most minimum wage jobs do not provide health care benefits. No parent should EVER have to decide between putting food on the table for their child or taking them to the doctor. No person should EVER be turned away from receiving emergency treatment at a hospital because of an inability to pay. Most of what I saw in this documentary wasn't new to me, i.e., the people who couldn't pay their hospital bills literally being tossed out into the street in a confused and disoriented state and still in a hospital gown. I've seen that on the 6:00 PM news. The people who were at ground zero saving so many lives who now can't get health care or treatment. It's easy for Congress to deny medical coverage to all when THEY have it. We may still be the richest country in the world, but this gem of a documentary will prove to you that we aren't "the greatest". America rushes to the aid of foreign countries in the wake of natural disasters or other emergencies with checkbook in hand. But when it comes to the day to day mundane of helping their own citizens, that's another story. Since that doesn't get worldwide press and admiration, the government doesn't deem it necessary. Much of this film made me laugh. A lot of it brought tears to my eyes. Most of it made me angry. I wish I could say some of it gave me hope.

This film highlights a subject that many of us intuitively understand or have experienced through the years - our health care system is in crisis and it can be a struggle to get claims covered, even if you have decent insurance. For those without insurance, it is a horror story.

I related to this movie because I know that simply keeping track of the paperwork and communicating between the doctors and the insurance company takes a great deal of my time. It didn't used to. Something, indeed, has changed for the worst.

For one thing, companies often delay payments until a patient's credit rating is in peril or impacted. I have seen friends have to bug insurance companies, in spite of the fact that they are paying premiums to these companies, to pay on time even when paperwork is properly submitted. This should not be. The company should be doing its job, insuring those who need their services, paying for appropriate medical care. People should not have to have their credit rating jeopardized or have to make a choice between paying the high costs themselves, somehow, even if they are financially stressed to the max...and then hope the insurance company will reimburse them..someday.

Listen to Linda Peeno's admission that she denied a patient proper care in spite of the fact that she knew this could cause death and that she continued to deny care in order to help a company maximize its profits - and she did so again and again, with encouragement and support by the company. I hope this will give you pause.

As far as personal experience goes, I left a hospital emergency room after being told nothing was seriously wrong with me. A nurse had checked the box that indicated they'd looked at the injection site where they'd taken blood and left a "tap" in case they needed to get medication into me quickly. I was instructed not to removed the gauze over the site till I got home. Imagine my surprise to discover they'd left two needles in me, taps fully in place! I actually took them out myself. So why did they check the box indicating they'd done it and that I'd been fully cleared to leave. I did negotiate a reduction on my bill but this certainly did nothing to make me feel more confident about the care I got that day. It was a minor mistake but how many more people suffer greater ones?



Breakdown: America's Health Insurance Crisis

What You Don't Know Can Kill You: A Physician's Radical Guide to Conquering the Obstacles to Excellent Medical Care

Understanding Health Insurance: A Guide to Billing and Reimbursement

First of all, let me just say that I am 13 years old. Yet, this does not mean that I am so ignorant as to not know what goes on in the business of healthcare. I stay on top of political issues, and I read the news regularly to see what's going on in our world.

So, naturally, I've grown accustomed to Michael Moore's ideas and, when I heard of his new film "Sicko" that would exploit everything wrong with America's healthcare system, I got excited.

I saw Sicko last night and let me say right now that it does not disappoint. Michael Moore has created a painfully truthful documentary that seriously opens your eyes to yet another thing America lacks: true care for people who are sick and can't afford it. Moore takes us on a 2 hour long trip interviewing people and discovering their horror stories about their health insurance companies refusing to cover their necessary health expenses, and for incredibly shallow reasons.

Now hang on a second. Don't we already know all this? The answer is yes. But Michael Moore takes everything we know and magnifies it 100x so we can view it in full spectrum. The result is clear: depression about how awful our country, the land of the free and home of the brave, is on healthcare.

Next, Moore takes us along on journeys to Canada, the UK, France, and even Cuba to show us how amazing their healthcare is. Moore talks to the locals to find out their stories and then compares them in full force to the horrifying tales of injured and/or sick Americans who don't have--or can't reason with--health insurance.

The painfully truthful documentary is accompanied by Moore's special, dry, tongue-in-cheek humour that we know so well from his other films. You'll be laughing at one moment, and the next moment staring in absolute sheer horror at what is being exploited right before our eyes.

Whether you are young, old, sick, healthy, with health insurance, or without health insurance, Sicko is definitely worth the high admission prices we pay these days for the movies. See this film, in no way will you be disappointed.

O.K., I admit it, I have some prejudices. As an American Evangelical, I'm required by law to be somewhat conservative, and that would entail eschewing Michael Moore and his films. Anyway, he's fat and ugly and has an attitude. What's to not like? Consequently I have not seen any of his films to date. But I waxed heretical today and decided to view the 11:15am matinee of his latest film, "Sicko". And I'm glad I did. My first shock was the packed parking lot at the local theatre. If anyone doesn't believe that the film media wields a profound influence on the American psyche, they need to try to find a parking place at the local cinema.

As I have admitted, I haven't seen any of Moore's other films, so I can't critique his documentary technique - whether it is moore [sic] of the same or something fresh. Detractors will charge that his stuff is pure propaganda. Well, what isn't? At least he's upfront about it. And his style is entertaining. After all it is an American audience and you have to entertain them, even if it's the news. He skillfully moves the film along with the proper mix and rhythms of humor, seriousness, and tragedy. His greatest weakness, however, is his use of music. Sometimes it works, but it is mostly schmaltzy, cheesy, and way overdone. I can't believe he used Barber's "Adagio for Strings" again. I can't listen to the piece any more without craving popcorn. It's become as ubiquitous as Taco Bell's Cannon.

Michael Moore is an "aginner", so we know his conclusion before he argues it. The question is whether or not he has a significant claim and a valid argument. I believe he has both. Having lost my mother and my mother-in-law recently after protracted illnesses, I have had lots of first hand experience with Moore's subject. Watching healthcare insurance premiums rise to the point of rivaling mortgage payments for the number one budget item while insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and healthcare organizations stack up obscene profits makes one wonder when someone is going to wake up. Moore gives a rationale for why no one has. Even if he is heavy handed and manipulative, (remember it is propaganda), he has gotten it pretty much right.

The defense for changing the system has always been the fear of socialism and the negative examples have always been the allegedly inadequate systems of Europe, especially Canada, England and France. Moore takes the audience on a travelogue worthy of the Travel Channel. It seems when you talk to the people who live in these countries, they don't tell the same story that we hear in the States. I have a number of European friends and they tell me a story a lot closer to Moore's than the received text we get stateside, so I have reason to trust Moore on this one.

Moore's coup de grace is his excursion to Cuba via Gitmo with a boatload of 9/11 "heroes" who can't get health care for their 9/11 maladies. Not only can they buy $120 meds for 5 cents in Cuba, but they get hospital stay and doctor care for free. These are Americans in communist Cuba for heaven's sake. Could this be just a ploy of the Cuban government to make us look bad? I don't think so. But don't take my word for it. Go see it for yourself. (I can't believe I just recommended a Michael Moore film. I hope I don't lose my credentials.)